Munch's 'Self-Scrutinies'

Edvard Munch is one of German Expressionism’s most well known figures, if not for his innovative brushstrokes and bold stray from academic painting, then for his particularly angsty, emotion-inducing works, exemplary of the Expressionist mood in general. Munch painted self portraits (what he called ‘self-scrutinies’) throughout his career, becoming increasingly prolific in the genre as he approached old age. His self portraits display the turbulent inner workings of his mind, while his image’s constant disintegration into his paintings’ backgrounds allude to a constant state of existential crisis.